


The Petrichor Cafe

by RiverHoneyDoctorSweetie



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, But I regret nothing, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, River and Eleven own a cafe, i don't know why
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-05 11:10:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1093199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiverHoneyDoctorSweetie/pseuds/RiverHoneyDoctorSweetie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Petrichor Cafe was run by two of the strangest people Clara had ever met, John and River Smith. They were an odd, middle-aged couple who employed their best friends and made a specialty muffin called 'Fish Fingers and Custard'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Petrichor Cafe was run by two of the strangest people Clara had ever met, John and River Smith. They were an odd, middle-aged couple who employed their best friends and made a specialty muffin called 'Fish Fingers and Custard'.

The patrons of the cafe were just as strange as the owners, if not, at times, stranger, but Clara didn't mind. She was happy there. She liked coming in and chatting with Jack while River alternately argued and flirted with John. She liked being able to bring dates of any gender or race and nobody batting an eye. Petrichor felt like home.

Tonight Clara walked through the door on her own, taking note of Jack in the corner with his boyfriend, Ianto and Rory and Amy at a center table taking their break. She went up to the counter and ordered a latte and specialty muffin from the new cashier whose name tag declared her name to be 'Rose'. Rose was pretty and blonde and smiled apologetically at Clara when she forgot the prices and codes for her order and had to ask John for help. Once that was all sorted out, Clara took her coffee and muffin to the booth on the back wall with a full vantage point of the cafe. She took a sip of coffee and sat back to watch the show.

“Mum, have you seen my jacket?”, River and John's son Jeb asked, coming down the stairs from their attached apartment.

Jeb was eighteen and the couples only child, which was a shame since they both loved children and had wanted a big family, but River's development of ovarian cancer shortly after Jeb's birth had dashed any hopes of ever having more children. Even so, they couldn't have been happier with their Jeb, who'd grown up in the cafe and was still 'Jebi' to all the longtime patrons. He was a tall boy with his mother's curls in his father's brown colour and a personality that contained unbelievable cheek. His green eyes shone bright with intellect and excitement.

“It's on the rack, love.”, his mother said, drying her hands with a rag as she exited the kitchen, “I put it there after I found it on my counter this morning.”, she gave her son a disapproving look.

“Sorry, Mum.”, Jeb grinned, not looking sorry at all.

He came round the counter and dropped a kiss to her cheek, moving past her to steal a muffin from the display case, he nodded in the direction of the kitchen, “Dad in there?”

“Yes, making messes and murdering pasties.”, her eyes zeroed in on his pilfered muffin, “Is there a reason you're down here? Besides nicking my muffins and looking for your coat- wait where are you going?”

Jeb's eyes lit up, “Ten bought a boat and we're going to see how long it'll be before we can take it out.”

River's brow furrowed in concern, “A boat? When did this happen?”

“A few days ago. It's great, right? And once it's ready we're going to travel the world!”

John poked his head out of the kitchen and asked, “What's all this then?”

River turned to her husband, “Jeb wants to go traveling on a boat with Ten.”

John beamed, “That's great! Wait- when did Ten get a boat?”

“A few days ago.”

Before John had a chance to say anything more, River said to him in panic, “Sweetie, please, you know how I feel about boats.”

Realization dawned in John's eyes and he went to his wife, cupping her face in his hands and saying, “That wouldn't happen to him, Honey. You know he'd be fine.”

River shook her head, “But what if he isn't? What if I lose him the same way-”, she choked on a sob.

John pulled her to him and she buried her head in his chest while he stroked her hair and whispered in her ear.

The whole shop couldn't help but stare. River _never_ broke down. Through every crisis she was a calm and steady force. What could possibly cause her to cry?

After a few minutes John kissed his wife's cheek and she nodded, then they went back up the stairs to their apartment.

The patrons all stared after them.

The silence was broken when a young man with spiky brown hair came through the door. Ten, whose real name was John, had been friends with Jeb for as long as anyone could remember. He was a year older than Jeb and for a moment Clara had to wonder if that was even old enough to _buy_ a boat.

“Jeb!”, Ten greeted.

Jeb grinned and motioned him over to where he was standing with Rose.

The moment Ten stepped behind the counter and his eyes met Roses, it was obvious to Clara that he was done for.

“Ten, come meet Rose.”, Jeb said.

Ten wasted no time, hurrying over and planting himself in front of the object of his affection. Only problem was, he just stood there after that, staring at her.

It took Jeb's prompting of, “Aren't you going to introduce yourself, mate?”, to break him from his trance.

Ah, yes. I'm John. But everyone calls me Ten since Jeb's Dad is also John. And you're Rose.”, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

Roses eyes widened, “Hello.”

Ten smiled, “Hello.”

Jeb clapped his hands together, a gesture he'd picked up from his father, and said, “Right, so about the boat. My Mum's freaked out about it so unless my Dad can convince her it's safe, I'm out.”

Ten groaned, “Ugh, really? Come _on_ , I don't want to be stuck on a boat with Nine.”

Nine was another one of their friends. His real name was also John.

“Sorry, mate. If she hadn't been so freaked out I would just go anyway, but I've never seen her like that.”

Ten nodded, “So it's unlikely she'll change her mind. Now what am I going to do? I can't survive that long on a boat with Nine, I'd bash his skull in.”

Jeb grinned, “Well you could always bring Rose.”, he joked.

Ten's eyes lit up and he said, “That's not a bad idea actually.”, he turned to Rose, “How do you feel about traveling? And boats?”

Rose eyed him carefully, “Depends on where we'd be traveling.”

“Wherever you'd like.”, Ten proclaimed.

She smiled, “Well then, guess you'd better start getting that boat ready. But first, my shifts over in a few minutes, so buy me a coffee and we'll talk.”

Ten beamed and said, “Brilliant!”, then reached into his pocket and put some money on the counter before asking Rose, “What do you drink?”

“Anything's fine so long as it's caffeinated.”, she said.

Ten nodded and went to the espresso machine, expertly preparing her a cup.

Roses eyes widened and she looked to Jeb who grinned and said, “Well, _somebody's_ smitten.”

And then Ten was back with a cup of coffee for Rose who took one tiny experimental sip then let her eyes flutter closed with pleasure. After a moment her eyes popped back open and she grabbed Ten's hand, dragging him to a table and pulling off her apron at the same time.

Amy and Rory, upon seeing Rose leave her post, got up and went back to work, grumbling that River and John were supposed to be working too. Jeb glared at them for that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to write. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it. Hopefully this isn't too hard to follow and is enjoyable to read. Cheers! :)

John spent the rest of the night consoling River. He set her up in their bedroom and brought her tea and muffins and sat with her for hours. They watched bad reality television and when that got boring he read to her; poems, physics, novels, evolution.

Eventually, while he was reading to her from the collected works of Rainer Maria Rilke, her breathing evened out and she fully relaxed into him, arms around his neck and head against his chest, snoring softly. His lips turned up slightly at the corners at the sight.

Slowly, without disentangling himself or disturbing her, he maneuvered himself so he could get them both under the covers of their bed where he promptly fell asleep, listening to the sound of her even breathing and inhaling the scent of her hair.

 

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

 

The next morning they were oddly quiet and without their usual constant banter Jeb couldn't help but feel as if something was wrong. He wasn't right, but he certainly wasn't wrong.

In terms of marriage and being in love, River and John were brilliant, but they were also both emotionally exhausted.

River couldn't stop thinking about the boat she'd been raised on, where she'd been trained and conditioned to be a killer. She'd escaped, eventually, though finding her way to London had been tough. When John had found her she'd been on her own for about a month, was sneaking and stealing to survive. 

They'd met in a library. She'd been reading about the Egyptian pyramids and he'd come up, looked over her shoulder and said, “That's where I'm going next.”, he'd looked at her and smiled, “Want to come along?”

She'd smirked and arched an eyebrow at him, “Might want to buy me a drink before asking me to run away with you, sweetie.”

So he had. And they'd left the next day.

He'd saved her, in as much as anyone could, whisked her away to see the pyramids of Egypt. They'd only known each other a few days and yet, when they'd kissed atop that pyramid, it had felt like forever.

They'd found her eventually, Kovarian and the Silence, had stolen her away in a rare moment when John was working and she was alone in their RV that was painted in the bluest of blues. They'd been in the Caribbean at the time and the Silence had taken her to the docks, back to the boat that she still had nightmares about.

Their one mistake had been staying moored overnight. John had found her quickly, John always found her. But sometimes he didn't find her soon enough.

Turned out that she'd been pregnant, not for very long at all, only about a month.

They'd killed her baby.

She couldn't tell John, not at first. Doing that would mean facing her fear that something had gone wrong, that she might not be able to conceive again, or worse, that John wouldn't want a baby.

When she had finally told him, he'd held her as she'd cried, even shed a few tears himself, and upon hearing her fears he'd promised they'd go to a doctor as soon as possible.

He'd told her he loved her.

The thing that frightened her the most after having Jeb was that she'd lose him to the Silence the same way she'd lost her first baby. The second was that Jeb would lose her. When she'd been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, the cafe hadn't even been open six months and they'd only had Jeb for half of that. John had been more afraid than she had and she didn't have to ask to know why. John always needed someone there, someone to love him and motivate him, but also to pull him back before he went too far. If left alone, he would do something stupid and Jeb would be alone and she couldn't let that happen, not to either of them. So she'd lived.

 

John was worried about his wife. He knew that she'd be fine, she always was, but he also knew that she would be afraid of Jeb leaving from now until it happened, because without them there, there would be no one to protect him from the Silence. And River couldn't bring herself to tell their son who she'd been before she'd met John.

That morning, when he and River came down and made breakfast, they stayed very quiet, barely speaking to each other or Jeb when he came in. But they never lost contact. Their flat's kitchen was tiny enough that it was possible, but not inevitable, to always be touching. While River flipped pancakes and cooked bacon, John used one hand to scramble eggs and kept the other wrapped around River's waist. Once the food was done and River had turned off the burners, John snaked an arm around her front and dished out the food, all the while pressed up against her back.

They sat down and ate in silence for a few minutes before Jeb broke it by saying, “Ten's going to take Rose on the boat instead. He was pretty bummed that I wasn't able to come but then I suggested that he take Rose and now I think I may be forgiven forever. He seemed pretty smitten.”

River smiled fondly and John squeezed her hand.

“Rose is a lovely girl and Ten deserves to have someone. I wonder where they'll go.”, she mused.

John gave her a soft smile and said, “I'd suggest the African plains. Some of the loveliest wildlife originates from there.”

“Really, Sweetie? I personally preferred Australia.”

“And why is that, my River?”

River giggled, “The dingo incident.”

John groaned and said, “I'm never going to live that down, am I?”

River grinned, “Not a chance, Sweetie. And you're just lucky that I didn't tell Amy because you know she'd be one hundred times worse than me.”

Jeb raised an eyebrow at his parents and asked, “What's 'the dingo incident'?”

By this point River was shaking with uncontrollable laughter while John was raking a hand through his hair looking mortified.

Jeb glanced back and forth between the two of them and said, “So? What is 'the dingo incident'?”

“Well,”, River started to explain between laughs, “We were exploring the outback and-”

John clamped a hand over his wife's mouth to keep her from revealing anything more and with rapidly reddening cheeks protested, “River, that really isn't an appropriate story to be telling our son.”

River simply giggled and licked the palm of his hand, causing him to jump and sputter, “River!”

Jeb smiled and rolled his eyes at them fondly before rising from the table, “I'm meeting with Ten and Nine downstairs. Whenever you're ready, I'm sure your employees would appreciate your presence as well.”

He gave his Dad a slap on the back and dropped a kiss to his mother's cheek then hurried down the stairs to the cafe.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated much, I nearly always end up writing while I'm supposed to be doing schoolwork and every now and then my teacher catches me, leaving me no choice but to resume doing school type things and leave my poor stories neglected. Anyways, not sure how good this chapter is but hopefully you'll like it. Enjoy :)

By the time Rive and John made an appearance downstairs, Jeb, Nine and Ten had finished resolving their boating plans and had moved on to other matters, such as where Ten was taking Rose.

As the couple walked hand in hand down the stairs they heard Jeb say, “Isn't Rose supposed to be choosing?”

They caught sight of the three friends in time to see Ten rake a hand through his hair in frustration, “ _Initially_ that's what she said, but then after when we were talking she told me it was only a test and that she actually wanted _me_ to choose. What am I supposed to do now? Should I take her to Paris? Girls like Paris, right? Or maybe that's too cliched. Oh _God_.”, his head dropped to the table in dispair with a _thud_.

Jeb and Nine exchanged a look and shrugged helplessly. By this Time, John and River had reached the bottom of the stairs where John gave his wife a quick, soft kiss on her mouth and squeezed her hand in parting before loping over to the group of young men.

“So,”, John said, flopping into the booth with them, “What seems to be the conundrum, boys?”

Jeb and Nine eyed him warily for a moment before Nine said, “Ten doesn't know where he should take Rose on their first trip.”

“Aha, I've been there mate.”, John nodded, “For me it never really mattered where I went and River was the same.”, he looked up at the counter where his wife was laughing with Amy over something and smiled fondly, “Though she does have a fondness for pyramids.”

Ten's head shot up from the table and he fixed John with an incredulous gape, “Wait- you two traveled? _When_ did you travel?”

John grinned, “Approximately twelve hours after we met we ran off together, to Egypt, actually. We kept going after that, stopped in Vegas and got married, got a pet gerbil in Amsterdam. Course we came back home when we found out River was pregnant with Jeb.”

He turned his thoughts to the memories of traveling the world with River at his side. Egypt had only been the first in the long line of beautiful places they'd visited. They'd gone to Rome, Tokyo and Paris before they'd found themselves in Las Vegas.

_The lights had been gloriously bright as they'd walked giggling and hand in hand through the drunken crowds of people. He recalled having said something completely daft and looking over at her just as she threw her head back with laughter._

_Cliched as it sounded, it was in that moment that he realized he would give anything to spend the rest of his life with this amazing, mad woman so he'd turned to her and asked, “Will you marry me, River?”_

They'd been married that night, hands bound together by his bowtie. They never had gotten rings. Even now John wore his commitment tied in a bow around his neck while River had it tattooed over her heart and rested in the hollow of her throat in the form of the tiny diamond star he'd given her in St. Petersburg.

“Sweetie.”, River called him presently, pulling him out of his memories.

He looked up at her and asked, “Yes, Dear?”

River grinned mischievously, “I need your help in the kitchen.”

At first John just looked at her, confused, then, as he registered what she'd said, a slow smile spread across his face.

“Well,”, he said as he hopped out of the booth, “It's been fun, boys.”

And with that he happily bound into the kitchen where his wife had disappeared moments before.

The moment the kitchen doors swung closed River had him pressed up against a counter, kissing him fiercely. It only took him a moment to respond in kind, gripping her hips and scraping her lower lip with his teeth.

“Sweetie...”, she moaned, reaching up to tangle her fingers in his hair, tugging it slightly.

Enthused, John pulled River flush against him and walked her backward until her back hit the wall. They resumed kissing, battling for dominance in a sloppy blur of tongues, teeth and lips. John's hands slid beneath the hem of her shirt to run along her soft curves while River shoved his jacket off clumsily, letting it fall to the floor in a tweed bundle at their feet.

They both groaned when River wrapped her legs around his waist, settling herself just above his arousal. Using the wall as a brace, John grabbed at the bottom of River's shirt, pulling it over her head and quickly tossing it behind him before reclaiming her mouth with his own.

River had just finished savagely ripping his shirt off, sending buttons flying everywhere, when a small shriek of surprise coming from the doorway interrupted them.

Their heads jerked up simultaneously at the noise and they looked over to find a moon-faced Amy staring at them in shock.

“Jesus you two! I thought you were coming in here to snog not shag!”, Amy exclaimed while River slowly unwrapped her legs from around John's waist.

John's cheeks went beat red and he could only stare at her in horror. River on the other hand smirked and watched the younger woman with amusement.

Amy simply continued her nervous rant, “I mean _ew_! It's like walking in on my daughter! I'm sending _you two_ the therapy bills for this one. Ick.”

She turned on her heel and left.

“That was mortifying.”, John proclaimed face impossibly red.

River chuckled evilly and breathed into his ear, “Just be grateful it wasn't your son, Sweetie.”, and swatted his bum.

John yelped and quickly grabbed his coat from the floor, setting it on the counter while he tried to salvage his shirt to no avail.

“I _liked_ this shirt.”, he whined.

“I did too, Sweetie. But do you know what?”, she leaned in close, “I like it better now.”

She pulled her own shirt on and walked to the doors where she paused to throw a wink over her shoulder before going through and letting them swing shut.

John shifted uncomfortably and tugged on his jacket, willing it to be longer and pulling it forward to try and conceal his still very there _problem_. He groaned when it didn't work and determined to walk as quickly as possible to get back upstairs so he could change.

And possibly take a cold shower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around this long! Hope you're enjoying :)


	4. Chapter 4

River was still laughing at her husband who had just hurried through the cafe and back up to their apartment as if it was the most humiliating thing he'd ever had to do when her son came over and leaned against the counter.

“Yes, Jebi?”, she prompted, using the nickname she'd dubbed him with not five minutes after his birth.

“How come I never knew that you and Dad traveled? I always thought that you'd gone on a trip or two not properly traveled the world.”, Jeb said, a note of hurt in his voice.

River softened immediately, patting her son's cheek maternally and saying, “Oh, my love. We didn't tell you because we missed it. I'm not saying that living a normal life hasn't been an adventure but sometimes it is so tempting to go back to running.”

Jeb asked, “Will you tell me about it?”

River smiled and brushed the wayward curls so like her own from his forehead, “Whatever you'd like to know, Jebi.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

River spent the next few hours telling her son all about she and her husband's travels, starting from the beginning. He didn't really understand the library, why his father would invite a stranger to Egypt, why the stranger would accept. He commented that the pyramid was romantic and he laughed when he heard that John had nearly had his face ripped to shreds after mistaking a lynx for a stray cat in Canada.

She pointedly left out the Caribbean, she wasn't ready to tell him about the Silence and she couldn't talk about that place without remembering all the horrible things that had happened there.

Jeb already knew the Vegas story, more or less. They'd told him they'd eloped, that there weren't rings because the only people who needed to know they were committed were them. She told him about Rome and Paris and Tokyo. About the gerbil from Amsterdam they'd called Sonic.

When she'd finally gotten to telling him everything about their adventures, Jeb was in awe, so much so that he then wanted to know all about how the cafe came to be. So she told him that too. How it was in Australia that she had discovered she was pregnant, that as soon as she told John he'd insisted that they go back to London immediately so she could take it easy. About how it was on the way home that they'd cooked up the scheme of a cafe called Petrichor. She laughed about how everyone had thought they were insane when they returned, married and pregnant and trying to open a cafe together, all within only a year of knowing each other.

When she was finished, Jebi smiled at her, his big boyish grin the spitting image of his father's, and leaned down to give her a hug. It always struck her how much he'd grown. It seemed like only yesterday she'd been carting him around with her, kissing scraped knees and chasing monsters out from under beds. But now her eighteen and all grown up.

Of course, she thought, hugging her son closer, He would always be her baby.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

John came back down to the Petrichor freshly showered and wearing a new shirt, to find his wife and son engaged in a warm embrace by the counter.

His whole being softened at the sight. His beautiful wife and their amazing child. Both he and River had wanted more children, everyone knew it. In the end, Jeb was all they'd gotten but he was more than enough, constantly kept them running after him when he was younger, and now had enough wit to choke a hippo.

John waltzed up to his family just as they were pulling back from their hug and ruffled his son's hair before taking his wife in his arms and spinning her around before gently placing her back on solid ground and planting a delicate kiss on the corner of her mouth.

River smiled at him and asked, “What's gotten into you?”

John simply grinned at her and reached out to grab his son by the shoulders and pull him into the strange embrace.

Jeb laughed and said, “Seriously, Dad, what are you on?”

“Jebi.”, River scolded.

John ignored his son and asked, “What? Can't a man show his affection for his family without it becoming suspicious?”

River shook her head, smiling again, “Oh, Sweetie, you're such a nostalgic idiot.”

John grinned wider, “Yes but I'm _your_ nostalgic idiot.”

River giggled, “Yes, my love, that you are.”

John bent down and their lips met briefly before pulling back to gaze at each other. Jeb rolled his eyes and pushed their heads together again, causing the pair to gape in surprise and meet in the middle open-mouthed.

This time they didn't break apart until Amy started complaining about there only being two fish custard muffins left and since John wouldn't give her the recipe, he needed to make more.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Ironically enough, neither John nor River had the patience to bake. River had been using the same excuse for years, that it was sexist to expect her to slave away in a hot kitchen in order to keep her husband's business afloat. Not that it actually was entirely her husband's business, but as soon as anyone suggested she bake, that was her story and she was sticking with it.

John on the other hand just couldn't stop bouncing around long enough to mix batter and set timers, so River let him store some of his less dangerous projects in the kitchen so as to keep him busy while he waited for the oven to ding.

After he'd finished pouring the batter into muffin cups, John hurriedly set the timer before racing to grab one of his projects and set it on the table. He immediately immersed himself in his work, twisting wires together and working out formulas. He promptly forgot about the muffins and jumped a foot in the air when the timer went off, causing his hands to slip and get shocked on the wires he was working with.

Yelping, he scrambled over to the oven, opening the door and belatedly remembering about oven mitts after he'd burnt himself trying to pick up the pan with his bare hands. When he did finally manage to get the muffins out, he was infinitely grateful that River wasn't around to see his bumbling since all she would do was make fun of him or try to trip him up further by trailing her fingers up his arm or dragging her tongue along his neck or or catching fire to the--

_Shit!_ , his eyes widened at the bright orange flames licking the top rack of the oven that he'd forgotten to turn off.

_Oh dear, Oh no_ , he thought, frantically glancing around the room for something to counter the fire, _Water? No that's only for open flames. Salt? Okay, that's a no then salt doesn't do anything. Oh no, River's going to **kill** me!_

Someone else came into the kitchen just then and he looked back over to the oven in time to see the flames distinguished.

A sigh escaped the newcomer and John immediately recognized it as distinctly _River_.

John turned to her and hung his head, peeking up at her nervously through his fringe.

“Hello, Dear.”, he mumbled, scuffing his shoes about like a scolded child.

“Really, Sweetie? _Another_? That's the second oven _this month_! We can't afford for you to keep killing them! And don't try to tell me _again_ that last time you needed those parts for your new invention, because it's not going to help your case.”, River reprimanded him.

“Sorry, Dear.”, he said earnestly.

“You should be. After all it is your own establishment you're putting under.”, she scolded him before surging forward and taking his face in her hands, turning it from side to side, looking for even the slightest sign of injury.

Her eyes started to pool and her hands trembled when she found a small singe of soot along his jawline. She lightly trailed one shuddering finger along the mark before she caught his eyes and pulled him down to her.

As she crushed her lips against his, he made a surprised noise in the back of his throat, but let her part his lips and dart her tongue inside his mouth. The kiss was overwhelming and desperate, like she was afraid that he could disappear at any moment.

After a few moments John gently pulled back to look at her in concern, “River? What is it? What's wrong?”

She looked away from him so he took her face in his hands and slowly turned it back towards him.

Her beautiful green eyes were shining with tears when they met his again and he reached up to stroke her cheek comfortingly.

She leaned into his touch and let out a shaky breath, “I'm sorry, my love.”

John looked at her evenly and said, “You don't ever have to apologize to me, River.”

She choked on a sob and he pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair and murmuring sweet nothings in her ear.

By the time anyone thought to check on them, John and River were working on one of John's projects together as they often did. John had just finished telling River that that was definitely _not_ where that wire went and River simply stated that if he didn't want to have another “problem” in the kitchen again then he would just let her help without arguing everything she did because it was frustrating her in more ways than one. John grinned mischievously and leaned over to pull her earlobe into his mouth.

Amy and Rory let the doors swing shut just as River said, “Oh you bad boy.”, and turned towards her husband.

As they went back to work in the front Amy asked, “Do you think we'll be like that when we're married?”

Rory gave her a look.

“Yeah, you're right.”, she said and went back to manning the register.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter turned out to be mostly fluff and I hope you enjoyed it :) I really don't know where I'm going to go with this but thanks for sticking around this long:)


	5. Chapter 5

Jeb's parents were acting strange. Well, stranger than usual anyway.

It had started when he'd first brought up Ten's boat. His mother had _cried_ , something that he'd never thought she did at all let alone witnessed. Then the morning after they'd both been silent, something that never happened when they were in a room together. And once the silence had been broken they'd started telling him a snippet from their travels, mind his mother had probably not even been fazed, too intent on embarrassing his father, but still.

Jeb was sitting on the edge of the serving bar in the cafe while he pondered this, gulping down a Coke. His mother was refilling the display case and muttering about someone, probably his father, being 'pretty but utterly useless'.

Just then his Dad came in through the front door, Tesco bag in hand and practically bound up to his wife, dragging her up and into his arms for a kiss. It was reaching the one minute mark by the time they broke away for air and Jeb smirked and arched an eyebrow at them.

Jeb's mother's expression mirrored her son's when she said, “What was that for, Sweetie?”

Her husband reached up and stroked her cheek, smiling, “I missed you.”

River chuckled, “You were only gone fifteen minutes, my love.”

“Hmm. Seemed like longer.”, John mused then paused for a moment before saying, “They're playing our song.”

Both River and Jeb paused to listen to the sound of the radio that gently wafted through the overhead speakers and sure enough the opening bars of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time were playing.

River looked back at John with a smile and giggled when he extended his hand and asked, “May I have this dance?”

“Of course, Sweetie.”, she replied, placing her hand in his.

John took hold of her waist and in one smooth motion swept her off her feet and into his arms, swinging her around in a spin that had her shrieking in surprise and delight. Her arms came up to clasp around his neck and he gently set her back on the ground, resting his hands on her waist as the two of them simultaneously eased into a slow, shuffling waltz.

The patrons of the cafe looked on at them with mixed reactions. Fond smiles from Estelle and Wilf, kind tolerance from Clara, Rose and Ten-- God he spent way too much time there-- and annoyance from Nine and Donna. Though to be fair, most things annoyed Nine, and Donna... well Donna , despite all the snark and wit that she hid behind, was just generally unhappy. Anyone that met her would say that she was rude and bitter. Well anyone with the exception of Ten who seemed to be the only person on the planet who could get her to smile. The two had met the first day of their freshman year in highschool and had instantly kindled a friendship that had lasted through the next five years and would probably last many more.

Rose leaned over and asked Ten, “Do they do this often?”, gesturing to the dancing couple.

John dipped River and she let her head fall back in a laugh while her husband bent to kiss her shoulder.

“Not this exactly but more or less, yeah.”, Ten answered.

Rose smiled, “That's sweet.”

The song ended and John brought River's hand to his lips, both of them beaming at each other, then lowered it and led her back behind the counter to continue the work they'd left abandoned in favour of there impromptu romantic exploit.

Rose turned back to Ten, “How long have they been together?”

Ten grinned, “Just about twenty years.”

“You sound proud of that.”, Rose remarked.

Ten shrugged, “Well they practically raised me. And besides that, they're one of those couples that are so obviously in love that it gives you hope that true love really _is_ out there, somewhere.”

Rose's response was cut off by River saying in exasperation, “Sweetie, you can't build a pyramid out of muffins inside the display case.”

“Why not? Muffin pyramids are _cool_!”, John protested.

“That may be, Sweetie.”, She began to disassemble the structure of baked goods, “But if you continue to build in the display case, all the muffins will get stuck and we'll not only have to take apart the case to get them out, but we'll also have to make more muffins since it's doubtful any of them would survive the ordeal.”

John pouted and huffed at her, “Fine, I _won't_ build a muffin pyramid in the display case. Even though it would be really _cool_.”

“Really, Sweetie, if you want to build a pyramid so badly, there are far better locations and materials to choose from.”, River told her husband, patting his cheek affectionately.

John's eyes lit up with inspiration and he beamed, lunging forward and planting a quick peck to his wife's lips, “River, you are _brilliant_ ”, then he grabbed his coat from the rack and bolted outside, disappearing down the street.

River threw her arms up in exasperation but the effect was ruined by the fond smile that she was engaged in a losing a battle to suppress. She went back to taking apart the half built structure in the display case.

Rose looked back at Ten, who smiled at her and said, “See what I mean?”

She simply nodded.

They were quiet for a few moments before Rose said, “Let's go to Canada.”

Ten's eyebrows shot up in surprise, “What? Now?”

Rose laughed, “Not _right_ now, no. But maybe in a few days?”

Ten nodded vigorously, “Yes! Of Course. Whenever you're ready just say the word!”

At the table behind them both Donna and Nine were shaking violently with silent laughter at how eager and lovesick their friend sounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter :) I'm sorry I've been keeping you waiting. I do try to update at least once a week but since that's not always possible, I appreciate all your patience and your comments, views and kudos :)


	6. Chapter 6

Lee McAvoy's first impression of the Petrichor Cafe was that it was a nice enough set up, but he would probably stick to his regular place. Of course then he spotted the beautiful young redheaded woman sitting on her own by the window, sipping at a latte and looking out at the street. In that moment he decided he would come back as often as possible just to see her.

He took a swig of his coffee, trying to draw some courage from it, then took a deep breath and began walking towards her. He chickened out at the last moment, sidestepping to the table in front of her and quickly plopping himself down, facing towards her.

She didn't even notice.

He felt awkward sitting there, sipping his coffee. At first he tried not to steal glances at her every few seconds but soon gave up on that, seeing as she was still a million miles away. Instead he allowed himself to study her for a few moments. He took in her long red hair and the way it perfectly framed the shape of her face. Her deep blue eyes highlighted by long, dark lashes. There was a slump to her shoulders, like she was tired of forcing them back and the shape of her mouth looked sad.

Lee decided then, that he wanted to talk to her, though he wasn't sure how exactly to start up a conversation. He pondered it for a few moments, thousands of scenarios playing through his head.

While he was thinking, a middle aged man with floppy brown hair approached him and said cheerily, “Lee McAvoy! Ha! How've you been? My, I haven't seen you since you were barely big enough to see over a shop counter!”

Lee eyed the man curiously and said, “Sorry but who are you?”

“Oh, yes. Well then. I'm John Smith, friend of your father's.”, the man, John Smith, reached out and grabbed his hand in a rather enthusiastic handshake.

“Hello.”, Lee greeted.

John turned to the redheaded woman whom Lee had been watching previously and exclaimed, “Donna! Look at this!”, he gestured to Lee, “This is Lee McAvoy. His Dad and I were roommates back when I tried university out because I still didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. Course I dropped out and started travelling and then I met River so it all worked out in the end didn't it?”, he clapped his hands together, “Sorry! I'm rambling. Lee, this is Donna Noble.”

Lee looked timidly at Donna and stammered, much to his dismay, “Hello D- D-”, he stopped trying to force her name out for fear of causing himself further embarrassment.

Donna smiled at him brilliantly, “Got a bit of a stammer there.”

“D- D-”, he tried again.

“Oh, skip to a vowel they're easy.”, Donna said, causing him to laugh nervously.

“Anyways.”, John cut in, “I ought to get back to work. I gave Rory and Amy the day off and if I'm not on top of everything the missus will have me for breakfast.”

He waved to them and loped away.

Once he was gone Donna started talking to Lee. And kept talking for hours. It might have been boring to some people, but Lee wasn't some people. He enjoyed listening to other's speak rather than talking himself. He would throw in his own two cents where needed but Donna seemed content to just tell him things. Each time she had exhausted one subject she would immediately move on to another, never allowing silence to radiate in the air between them.

She only stopped talking when a spiky haired young man came over to inform her that he was going to take someone called Rose home and that if she wanted a ride as well they were leaving now.

Donna rose from her chair, smiled at Lee sweetly and said, “It was nice talking to you, Lee.”

Spiky Hair raised his eyebrows at her and she slapped his forearm and said, “Shut up.”

A blonde girl joined them then, taking Spiky Hair's hand in her own and the three of them began to walk away. 

When they reached the door Lee made a quick decision and abandoned his table to rush after them, frantically stammering, “D- D- D-”

Donna turned to him, “Yes?”

Heat flooded his cheeks and he shoved the words out as quickly as he could without slurring them, “I'm going fishing tomorrow morning and I was wondering if you'd like to come.”

She quirked an eyebrow at him, “Fishing?”

He flushed and nodded, not trusting his voice.

Donna flashed him a brilliant smile, “I'd love to.”

Lee's heart soared with elation. She'd said yes! He'd hoped that she would but he really hadn't thought- Oh. She was waiting for him to say something.

“Is meeting her okay? Maybe around seven? Or is that too early? Maybe around ten....”, he rambled nervously.

Donna grinned, “Seven's perfect. I'll see you then, Lee.”

He looked at her wide eyed, “Bye, D- D- D-”

Donna waved and she and her friends left.

When she was gone, the realization of what had just happened hit him.

His smile stayed plastered on his face for the rest of the day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“River!”, John exclaimed excitedly.

“What is it, my love?”, River asked, smiling at a customer while she handed them their change.

The customer took their change and their order just as John came up behind River and put his hands on her waist, dipping his head to press a kiss to her temple and whisper in her ear, “Look over there.”

River followed his gaze to a moderately attractive young man who appeared to be watching and listening attentively to someone. Looking over she saw that Donna was speaking to him.

And she was _smiling_.

“Who is that?”, River asked her husband.

“Lee McAvoy.”, he answered proudly.

“He's _gorgeous_.”, she enthused, just to bother her husband.

“Oi!”, John protested.

River laughed throatily in response and John nuzzled her curls.

They just stood there for a few moments, wrapped in the warmth of their embrace and watched Donna and Lee interact.

Donna had been a part of their lives since the first day of Jebi, Ten and Nine's freshman year of highschool and like all who became friends with their Jeb, had quickly become like one of their own children.

She'd been witty and rude but that was fine with them. She was Donna and while she was proud and outspoken, she was also incredibly kind and fiercely loyal.

Though she was friends with all three of the boys, Ten was the one she was closest to and spent the most time with. They were best friends, he was her Spaceman and she his Earthgirl and all throughout highschool wherever one went the other would follow. Because of their closeness, most people assumed their relationship was romantic but unlike most people in their situation, they didn't care. Sometimes they even played along and would hold hands down hallways or call each other 'snookums' just for laughs.

When they were seventeen Ten had gotten his first girlfriend right around the same time Donna had begun a serious relationship with Lance Bennett, one of the Petrichor's new baristas. He'd broken her heart and Ten had nearly killed him. He'd beaten him up pretty badly and it had taken Donna's protests to get him to stop.

When Ten's girlfriend had dumped him for the new foreign exchange student, Donna had taken Ten out for milkshakes and driven them past the cinema where she'd thrown her milkshake out the car window at Ten's ex, adding a yell of 'skank' for good measure.

They protected each other.

John and River watched as Ten got up from the table he'd been sharing with Rose and walked over to where Donna was still talking to Lee while Rose departed for the restroom. There was a brief exchange of words before Donna stood up and Rose came back, taking Ten's hand as they headed for the door. Lee stood up abruptly and he and Donna exchanged a few more words. Whatever they'd said caused Ten to raise an eyebrow and Donna to beam. After they'd left, Lee went back to his table with a dazed expression on his face. He simply sat there for a few moments before he broke out into a grin.

River laughed quietly and John looked down at her as she said, “That was adorable.”

John smiled at her and kissed her curls in response. River melted into his touch with a sigh, turning in his arms to rest her head against his chest. John dropped his chin to her head and watched as the last few straggling customers left. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and led her by the hand to the door, switching the sign over and sliding the bolt home.

“Let's go home.”, John said.

They walked slowly to the spiral staircase, an arm wrapped around each other's waist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter :) I just had to add Lee into the story since I've been rewatching Forest of the Dead constantly lately and every single time my heart breaks for him and Donna. I know she got Shaun in the end but still. Anyways I just had to put him in and give them a chance at a happy ending. Also I'm sorry if Donna and Lee seem really ooc, I've never actually tried writing for them before and it's been a while since I've rewatched more than just one episode of the fourth series. Either way I hope you enjoyed this :)


	7. Chapter 7

Waking up in the morning was John's favorite part of the day. The way the light filtered through the bedroom curtains and bathed River's skin in a glow that made her look even more impossibly beautiful than usual filled him with warmth. Every time he woke he expected to find that he'd dreamed her up, that she was simply figment of his imagination. He couldn't contain his joy each time he found she was real.

He only had about five seconds to bask alone in her beauty before she opened her eyes and smiled back at him. It was uncanny how in tune with each other they were. The moment one of them fell asleep the other could sense it. It was the same with waking up, leaving the house and coming home. They just _knew_.

John propped himself up on his elbow just as River's eyes fluttered open sleepily to reveal brilliant green irises.

“Good morning.”, John murmured, smiling softly.

River scooted closer to him and closed her eyes again with a smile of her own, “Mmmm.”

John draped an arm over her waist, caressing her soft curves while she buried her face in his shoulder.

That was another reason why John loved waking up. Everything was calm and quiet, the only sound was that of their breathing. It was a warm and happy time and for years had been virtually the only time they got to themselves all day since as soon as Jebi was aware that they were no longer sleeping he would occupy their attention for hours.

Now that Jeb was older he was so self-sufficient that they probably could've stayed in their bedroom all day and if it weren't for work no one would notice either.

Shifting a bit to get into a more comfortable position, John thought that he wouldn't mind that at all.

“We should get up, my love.”, River mumbled against his skin.

“Yeah, we probably should.”, he agreed, thumb stroking the curve of her hip.

Neither made any move to get up, both unwilling to leave the bliss of simply lying together skin to skin.

In the end it was a Scottish voice yelling, “River! John! Come on then, up with you! We need to open!”, from just outside their bedroom door that forced them to face the day.

They got up with a groan before shuffling out towards the bathroom to shower. They were only halfway there when the owner of the Scottish brogue interrupted them again, this time letting out a peal of laughter.

They turned to see Amy standing in the middle of their kitchen laughing at them.

“What's so funny, Moonface?”, John grumbled, put out by being pulled out of the warmth of his bed and wife's embrace.

Amy smirked and nodded to his dressing gown, “Robe's a bit racy for you, isn't it John?”

John looked down at himself and realized that he wasn't wearing his cotton robe covered in little cartoon fezzes and bow ties like he'd thought, but River's tiny red silk thing that barely even covered _her_ arse, let alone his.

He flushed and muttered, “Shut up, Pond.”

River laughed and John took her by the hand and lead her to the bathroom, grumbling the whole way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They came downstairs after their shower with satisfied grins and still wet hair to find the cafe buzzing with activity which was... strange.

Sure they had enough customers on a day to day basis to make a decent amount of money, but they just didn't get business on _this_ scale. People were milling about, ordering coffee and muffins and talking amongst themselves.

John turned to and looked at River questioningly but she only looked back at him with an equally puzzled expression.

River turned to look out at the crowd again, sending John a strong whiff of her shampoo and momentarily distracting him with memories of that morning.

Showering with River, John decided with a very self satisfied smile, was nearly better than waking up with her. There was rarely ever any washing involved but the activities that replaced it were just as refreshing if not more so.

Sometimes John was surprised at how much he'd come to enjoy sex. Before River, he'd never really understood the purpose behind it, other than procreation. Now he couldn't imagine not sharing in such an intimate act with his River. He loved the way she could make him feel, and him her. He loved watching her come undone and hearing his name spill from her lips in a rush of passion. Being able to profess his love for her as he found his release inside of her and slipped over the edge--

He was suddenly hyper-aware of the serious problem he was going to have if he kept thinking like that.

He shook his head, as if to shake it clear of those dangerous thoughts just as River asked Rory who was walking past with Amy, “What's all this then?”

Rory gave them a strange look and said, “You're anniversary party.”

River furrowed her brow, “But it's not our anniversary.”, she turned to John, “Is it?”

John shrugged in response.

“How can neither of you know when your own anniversary is?”, Amy asked.

John shrugged helplessly again and at Amy's answering glare said, “I don't know these things! I can't imagine a time when we weren't together, to me it seems like she's been here forever.”

River smiled lovingly at her husband, “Me too, Sweetie.”

John grinned back at her and threaded his fingers through hers, thumb ghosting across her knuckles.

“Anyways.”, Rory cleared his throat, “Trust me. It's April 22nd and you've been married for twenty years as of today; go enjoy your party. It's the one day a year you can act as mushy as you'd like and no one can say a word.”

River quirked an eyebrow, “What about Valentines Day?”

Rory scoffed, “The only people who don't complain on Valentines Day are people with significant others. On anniversaries, nobody complains, only hopes that their own relationship will last as long as the one they're celebrating.”

John grinned and asked his wife, “Shall we?”

River kissed his cheek, “We shall.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“How did you not know that today is your anniversary?”, Jeb asked his parents.

John scuffed his shoe about on the floor, “We just don't really keep track.”, River patted his cheek consolingly.

“Well.”, Donna said, “If it helps, I didn't know today was your anniversary either so I have a date.”

“Speaking of which, I think he and I should have a talk.”, Ten said only half jokingly.

Donna glared at him, “Oi! Don't you start that, Spaceman. You know full well I can take care of myself.”

Ten smiled fondly at her, “I know. I just worry, Donna, that's all.”

“Well stop it, that's my Granddad's job.”, she scolded.

“Ah yes, Lee Macavoy asked you out didn't he?”, John remarked.

“Yeah, he did. We're going fishing.”, Donna told him.

The bell above the door chimed and they all turned to see Lee come through it, carrying various bits of fishing equipment.

“And there's the poor sod now.”, Nine laughed.

Both Donna and Ten glared at him and Ten said, “Knock it off, Nine.”

Nine rolled his eyes and strode to the other side of the cafe to make conversation with Jack and Ianto.

Lee went over to where Donna and the group were milling about and greeted them all with a, “Hello.”

Donna dazzled him with a smile and said, “Hello, Lee. Did you want to get a coffee or something first or...?”

Lee nodded and said, “Coffee.”, then offered her his hand, which she took and led her to the counter to order.

Ten eyed the pair curiously while everyone else continued talking and laughing. Some people might mistake his worry for jealousy, but it wasn't. Donna was his best friend and he knew her better than anyone. She was brilliant but she only let on to certain people. Smiles from her were few and far between, but in the four years he'd known her, he'd seen them often enough to know they were beautiful. She'd been the first girl he'd ever kissed and had immediately punched him afterwards. He wanted her to be happy and if Lee was what would make her so then he was fine with that. His Earthgirl, like him, needed someone and now that he had Rose he wanted Donna to have someone as well. She deserved it.

Lee and Donna returned just then, each holding a coffee cup and a paper bag.

Donna introduced him to everyone, stating their names and rudely describing there traits in a very 'Donna' manner.

The last she pointed out was Ten, the only one of all of them who was graced with a smile.

“This is Ten, A.K.A John, but since there are so many of those around here we call him Ten. Or, everybody else does. I call him Spaceman.”

Lee nodded and shook Ten's hand.

“It's nice to finally be officially introduced.”, Ten said, to which Lee nodded his agreement.

“Anyway.”, Donna said, “We should be off.”, she dragged Lee to the door where she paused and called back to Ten, “I'll call you later, Spaceman.”

“You better, Earthgirl.”, Ten warned.

Donna waved and pulling Lee by the hand, left.

Ten allowed himself a moment for a private smile of happiness for his friend before returning to the conversation that had been going on around him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Throughout the course of the day, John and River had seen quite a few old faces and a few new ones as well. There was Sarah Jane Smith who introduced them to her son Luke, the recently married Martha and Mickey Smith-Jones, Astrid Peth and her foreign boyfriend Bannakaffalatta.

The highlight of all of this however, was the curly black haired woman who ran up and hugged them with a, “My Water and my Thief!”

“Idris!”, River and John exclaimed excitedly, hugging her back fiercely.

Idris pulled back and in turn kissed them each on the lips.

“Happy anniversary! What's it been now? Thirty years?”, Idris said.

River smiled fondly at her, “Twenty, Dear.”

“Thirty, twenty, it's close enough.”, Idris waved her correction off.

John put an arm around each woman's waist and smirking at River said, “Isn't this brilliant? Both my wives are here now and the real fun can begin.”

River smiled sweetly, “Aren't you lucky I'm not the jealous type, Sweetie.”

John arched an eyebrow at her, eyes dancing, “Aren't you? I seem to remember you being extremely jealous when we were in New Orleans and that woman started flirting with me. I also recall the fantastic noises you made later when I was making it up to you later by licking--”

“Shut up.”, River interrupted, crushing her lips to his.

“I really don't know why you two bother kissing, you know River always wins.”, Idris idly remarked, studying her nails.

Neither John nor River heard her, too caught up in the feel of each other. John's hands buried themselves in River's magnificent hair while her's ran down his back to settle on his rather amazing arse, squeezing just to hear him squeak. Their mouths opened and tongues slid against each other in a wet, heated rush. 

River pushed her hand under John's shirt, feeling the flat planes of his stomach and her teeth nibbled at his lower lip, eliciting a growl from deep within his throat. John dragged his hands down River's body, resting one on the small of her back and sliding the other into the waistband of her jeans. 

She moaned and pulled him closer, grinding her hips into his. He groaned in answer and moved his mouth down to her neck, licking and sucking at the soft skin there. River gasped and tossed her head back in pleasure, curling her fingers in his hair and scratching her nails against his scalp lightly.

A throat cleared loudly and the two of them reluctantly broke apart, suddenly very aware that they weren't alone, and turned to find everyone in the cafe staring at them with arched eyebrows.

John, as per usual, blushed, and much to everyone's surprise, River did as well.

At that everyone broke into cheers and applause. River smiled and leaned into John's side. John looked down at her and tipped her chin up for another kiss, which she returned with a contented tilt to her lips while the crowds hollers got louder. When they pulled away River kept a hand on his chest while John wrapped an arm around her waist.

The gathered crowd went back to their own devices, laughing and chatting amongst themselves while John and River laced their fingers together and went to mingle with the crowd.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter has taken so long to get up, I meant to have it posted on Valentines day but obviously I'm a few days late for that. I don't know if I got all of the coding right and I don't have time to go through it right now but any mistakes will be changed as soon as I have moment. Anyways, Enjoy :)

“Do you have everything then?”, River fretted.

Ten smiled indulgently at her, “Yes.”

They were gathered on the street just outside the cafe with Donna, John, Jeb, Nine and Lee to see Ten and Rose off. They would have gone down to the docks with them but River couldn't stand being near the water, so they were all saying their goodbyes here instead, while Rose's mother would meet them at the harbour.

River pulled Ten into a hug and kissed his cheek before pulling away, “Be careful, okay, Love?”

Ten nodded, “I will.”

She rubbed his arm and gave him a tight, worried smile before stepping back into her husband's arms.

John grinned at him, “Have fun.”

Ten beamed and nodded.

Jeb and Nine stepped forward and said, “Bring us back something nice, eh, mate? Maybe a French girl?”

Ten snorted, “You wish.”

The two of them shrugged, “Little bit, yeah.”

Donna was hanging back a bit with Lee and Ten joked with her, “What? No hug? Gosh, you could at least pretend you're going to miss me.”

“Yeah, well, Granddad says lying is wrong.”, she shot back.

They stood in silence for a moment.

Donna and Ten surged forward at exactly the same moment, throwing themselves into each other's arms and hugging fiercely.

“I'm gonna miss you, Spaceman.”, Donna whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“I'm gonna miss you too, Earthgirl. So much.”, Ten responded, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Donna hugged him tighter, “Don't forget to call, yeah?”

Ten smiled, his own eyes filling up a bit, “Course. Who else will you complain about everything to?”

Donna laughed weakly and pulled back with a kiss to his cheek.

She turned to Rose, “Take care of him, okay?”

Rose smiled and nodded to her, “I will, I promise.”

Donna nodded in acknowledgement and went back to stand with Lee. Rose got into the back of the cab, but Ten lingered for a moment, looking at Lee.

“Take care of my Earthgirl, Lee. I want her to be in the same state I left her in when I get back.”, he threw a glance at Donna and surveying her tear stained face reconsidered, “Well, maybe not _exactly_ the same state. I would like her to be smiling when I get back, so cheer her up a bit, yeah?”

Lee looked him evenly in the eye and nodded his agreement.

Ten hesitated a few seconds longer before he got into the taxi and it sped down off down the street.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

_John found River in the kitchen icing fish custard muffins._

_The strange sight stopped him dead in the doorway and he asked, “Honey? What is it exactly that you're doing?”_

_River glanced up at him for a second before returning to squeezing red icing from the bag, “What does it look like I'm doing, Sweetie?”_

_“Well, Dear, it looks like you're icing muffins.”, he told her nervously._

_“You'd be correct, Sweetie.”, she continued with her work and he stood there awkwardly for a few moments._

_“Um, River?”, John asked._

_“Yes, Sweetie?”, she prompted._

_He fidgeted, “Uh, well I was just wondering..._ why _you're icing muffins?”_

_River puit down her piping bag and turned to glare at him in annoyance, “Really, Sweetie? Do you honestly not know?”_

_John just looked at her blankly._

_River sighed and began working again, “Of course you don't.”_

_When she didn't elaborate he asked, “So, River? Why_ are _you icing muffins?”_

_River's grip tightened and she squeezed out an enormous glob of frosting. Swearing under her breath, she dropped the bag on the table in frustration._

_She looked at her husband in exasperation and said, “It's Valentines Day. That's why I'm icing muffins.”_

_John frowned, “Oh.”_

_River glared at him, “Yes,_ oh _.”, she wiped away the large spot of frosting that had landed on her work space, “And if you'd glance at a calendar now and then you'd know that.”, she picked up the piping bag and continued decorating, “Of course it's just like you to forget. I'll never get a real Valentines day with you as a husband, will I?”_

_John took a few steps towards her and said, “River, I know it's Valentines Day. I just didn't make the connection between the day and red icing.”, he pulled something from his coat pocket, “I was going to give this to you later but, well, here.”, he presented her with a long, black velvet box._

_River took it cautiously and carefully opened it._

_She inhaled sharply and said, “Oh you ridiculous, sentimental idiot.”_

_John smiled nervously, “Does that mean you like it?”_

_River choked on a sob, beaming widely, “You moron.”_

_She flung herself into his arms and kissed him passionately, leaving the box open on the counter with the star shaped diamond necklace glinting in the light._

 

John smiled at the memory.

He and River had barely been together two years at the time and already they'd had a child, a business and a home together. River had only recently undergone surgery and had still been coming to terms with the fact that she could never have any more children.

Jebi was their blessing, their only child. It was knowing that they at least had their son that got her through but it had still taken a very long time. The star necklace had been an attempt to show her that he loved her no matter what.

He really couldn't believe that they'd been together for twenty years now, it felt like a millennium had passed and yet sometimes it felt like no time at all.

When he'd seen River for the first time he'd thought that she was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen, all curly blonde hair and glinting green eyes that would occasionally glance up from her book to sweep the room.

He'd spent a few minutes just watching her, wondering who she was, what her life was like, why she was reading about Egypt.

He'd walked up behind her and studied the pages from over her shoulder and said, “That's where I'm going next.”

Then his mouth had made what would end up being the most rewarding decision of his life and asked, “Want to come along?”

He'd been mortified until she'd smirked and said, “Might want to buy me a drink before asking me to run away with you, Sweetie.”

One tiny exchange between strangers and two lives were changed forever.

Every single day he had with River was a blessing. Especially after she'd been diagnosed with cancer, he'd started seeing every day as a miracle.

The day everything had changed had been the day they'd met Amy and Rory.

 

_”Sweetie, he doesn't need a fez.”, River told her husband._

_John, who was holding a now fez wearing baby Jebi, smiled brightly and said, “Of course he does! Fezzes are_ cool _. Jeb wants a fez. Don't you Jebi?”, he cooed the last bit at his tiny son._

_River plucked the hat from their baby's head and put it back on the shelf while John pouted._

_River rolled her eyes at his expression and said, “You should put him back in the pram, Sweetie.”_

_“Why? Jeb likes being up here with his Daddy.”, John said defensively._

_“I'm sure he does, Sweetie, but I want to hold your hand and I can't do that if your arms are busy holding him, can I?”, River said reasonably._

_John grinned and set Jebi back into the pram, then quickly took his wife's hand and laced his fingers through hers. She smiled at him and they walked on through the department store, each with one hand pushing the pram, their linked hands swinging between them._

_They stopped again at the cosmetics department, River citing a need for new lipstick. She quickly set to work, carefully studying colours, popping caps and testing them out against her skin._

_When she finally found what she wanted she stood up quickly from where she'd been crouching on the floor only to stumble backwards dizzily, a palm pressed to her forehead. John hurried forward to catch her, trying desperately not to trip over his own feet in the process. River fell limp in his arms and in his shock John backed into a thankfully empty rack, knocking it over and causing quite a few heads to turn._

_Most dismissed them and continued on their way but a young blond man came rushing over, a pretty redhead trailing behind him, saying, “It's okay, I'm a nurse.”_

_Reluctantly, John handed his unconscious wife over to the stranger who proceeded to press two fingers to her pulse point. John didn't spare a moments thought on what the man would find, he had felt her lungs expanding against his chest when he'd caught her._

_Pulling his hand away the man asked, “Did she hit her head when she fell?”_

_John shook his head, “No, I caught her before she could do more than swoon.”_

_The stranger glanced up distractedly at something over John's shoulder and asked, “Is he yours?”_

_John managed to tear his attention away from River and looked behind him to see Jebi still in his push chair now wailing. One last squeeze to his wife's hand and in a blur he was standing and bouncing his son consolingly in his arms, making little shushing noises until his sobs turned to hiccups._

_He turned back to look at River just as the stranger finished examining her eyes._

_“I think she's fine.”, he said, pocketing his flashlight, “But we won't know for sure until she wakes up and then she should probably go to the hospital just to be safe.”_

_John nodded and knelt down next to River again, cradling Jebi awkwardly in one arm and stroking blonde curls with his free hand._

_The still nameless man gestured to the baby and asked, “Can I take him for you?”_

_“Yeah, thanks.”, John gratefully handed his son over to the heroic stranger who immediately began cooing at the child._

_After a few moments the man asked, “What's his name?”_

_“Jebidiah.”, John answered offhandedly, focused on River's curls._

_River's eyelids fluttered open, “That's not his name and you know it, Sweetie.”_

_John's entire being flooded with relief and his body relaxed of tension he hadn't known he'd been carrying._

_His smile for her was huge and bright when he said, “Yes, I know, Honey.”_

_“He's Jebi and the only reason it says Jebidiah on his birth certificate is because you're whining was driving me insane.”, she frowned, “Why am I on the floor?”_

_John brushed a thumb over her cheek, “You fainted, Love.”_

_River struggled a bit and John helped her into a sitting position._

_“Who's that?”, River nodded in gesture to the blond stranger holding their child, now accompanied by the redhead._

_“Rory Williams.”, the man, Rory, passed Jebi over to the redhead and extended his hand as River and John got to their feet, “I examined you after you fainted.”_

_River smiled kindly and shook his hand, “River Song. Well Smith but Song sometimes. And this is my husband, John.”_

_Rory smiled back, “It's nice to meet you both.”_

_The redhead spoke up, “And I'm Amy.”, she glared at Rory, “In case you forgot about me, Stupid Face.”_

_Rory flushed, “Sorry.”_

_Amy grinned, “It's fine, I was only teasing.”_

_River trod to Amy and gestured to Jebi, “May I?”_

_Amy shrugged, “Sure, it's your kid.”_

_River smirked and took her son in her arms, cooing at him softly._

_“I think you're fine now but you should still go to the hospital just to be sure.”, Rory said._

_“Are you a doctor?”, River asked._

_Rory flushed, “Nurse. In training.”_

_She raised an eyebrow at him but didn't comment, instead going back to fawning over her son._

_“Thank you for helping, Rory.”, John said with immense gratitude._

_“I didn't really do anything.”, Rory said modestly._

_“Still, I would have gone mad if you hadn't done something.”, John began fumbling through his pocket for something, “Listen, if either you or Amy ever need anything, a job, free food, a place to stay- don't hesitate to call.”, he finally pulled out a freshly printed business card that read; 'The Petrichor Cafe- coffee, muffins and great conversation'._

_Rory looked up and asked, “What's 'petrichor'?”_

_River smiled, “It's a term that refers to the smell of dust after rain.”_

_Rory nodded, pretending that he understood what that had to do with anything._

_River glanced up at the big wall clock, “We'd better get going if we want to catch Jack before he gets off work.”_

_John groaned, “Can't we blow it off? I'm not in the mood to deal with Jack and his shenanigans. We could just stop off at the hospital and have them check you out then go home and have a quiet night.”_

_River only hesitated a moment before nodding, “Come on then.”, she strapped Jebi back into his pram then turned and took John's hand in hers, pulling him away._

_John threw a grin and a small wave over his shoulder before directing his attention back to his family, taking the push chair from his wife's grasp with one hand and wrapping the other around her waist. She leaned into his touch and they walked out like that, blissfully content and temporarily oblivious to the sinister reasons behind River's fainting._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was mostly flashbacks which I love writing but I always feel like I'm boring people with. I realized after I finished typing it out- yes I still use paper for my manuscripts, sue me- that I'd already established in an earlier chapter that John had given River the star necklace in St. Petersburg but I was too lazy to change the scene so just bear with me here, okay? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I really appreciate comments and kudos. Also, I often don't respond to comments but I always see them and they always make me smile :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long to get up, I could blame it on school but I've honestly had it done for a while and have just been too interested in beating Shadows of the Empire to bother uploading it and for that you may blame my brother. Enjoy :)

When Ianto walked into the cafe that morning he just about walked right back out when he saw what John was doing.

 

He barely noticed Jack come up beside him until he clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, “Unbelievable, isn't it?”

 

Ianto nodded weakly as he gaped.

 

In the back corner of the room a huge platform was set up and John was currently gluing rows upon rows of fezzes onto it.

 

“Well that's one word for it. What's he doing?”, Ianto wondered aloud.

 

Jack smirked, “He says he's building a 'pyramid of cool things'.”

 

“Doesn't River mind?”, Ianto asked.

 

“Not really.”, River answered as she walked by, “He's not hurting anyone and, well, I _did_ tell him he could build a pyramid as long as he didn't use the muffins or make it in the display case so it wouldn't do for me to be annoyed that he did exactly as I suggested him to.”

 

Ianto nodded mutely. Jack laughed at him and pulled him to a table by the window.

 

Amy and Rory were standing by, watching John plan, build and reassess his pyramid. Every few minutes he would scratch his cheek or run a glue-covered hand through his hair, yelping when he ended up pulling out strands. River laughed at every whine. She'd very nearly had a cow when a delivery man had walked in first thing that morning with twenty boxes of fezzes asking her to sign for them. She'd calmed down considerably after her husband had frantically promised that they _weren't_ for him to wear, but she was still annoyed enough to be amused by his pain.

 

Jebi was in charge of keeping the glue pliable and was stirring an industrial sized bucket of it.

 

“Dad, are you sure we're going to need all this glue?”, Jeb asked.

 

River, now perched on the counter, smirked and said, “Trust me, Dear, you'll need it. Knowing your father, most of that glue is going to end up on him instead of the hats anyways.”

 

As if on cue, glue dripped from the paintbrush John was holding above his head in an attempt to apply some to the rim of a fez and drizzled onto his forehead.

 

He flailed and sputtered, “River!”

 

River doubled over with silent laughter, shoulders shaking violently while John glared at her amused form.

 

“Hmph.”, he huffed, “Well at least Jeb's on my side, aren't you Jeb?”, a quick glance in his direction however, showed that his son was also dying of silent laughter.

 

John crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

 

“Oh, Sweetie.”, River choked out, “I'm sorry.”, she finally managed to compose herself, “It's just that you're so adorably oblivious. You really can't blame me for laughing.”

 

John fought a smile at the mention of his being 'adorable' and hopped up, making his way to River.

 

He stopped about a foot short of her and said, “Nevertheless, I am going to have to punish you, River Song.”

 

River smirked and licked her lips, “What are you going to do? Spank me?”

 

John stepped between her legs where they were spread in her position on the counter top, “I think you'd enjoy that quite a bit, wouldn't you, Love?”

 

River reached up and tugged him by the hair down to her and John revelled in the pain mixed with pleasure of it, moaning. River's legs were wrapped around his waist and she rolled her hips over his, causing both of them to groan at the friction.

 

Rory stepped forward before they could go any further, saying, “You know you are still in public. Most people – me – Amy- would prefer that you kept that sort of thing to the bedroom.”

 

Amy arched an eyebrow, eyes dark and focused on the older couple who were still entwined and said, “Speak for yourself. I don't mind at _all_.”

 

Rory threw up his hands in exasperation and Jebi grimaced along with him saying, “I'm with Rory; I love you guys but I'd rather not be exposed to this sort of thing. If this is going to happen every time Dad clumsily flails then I don't think I'm interested in building a pyramid.”

 

The cafe was silent. John and River looked at each other then burst out laughing, leaning forward and resting their heads on each others shoulders as their bodies shook with amusement.

 

The bystanders shook their heads and sighed in exasperation, going back to their own goings on.

 

John and River just grinned at each other and Ianto got the distinct feeling that they were conversing without words.

 

It had always been that way, the two of them understood each other on a level that Ianto couldn't even fathom. Sometimes River would get this look on her face, Ianto thought it was sadness but it could have been pain as well. Every time she got that look John would touch her arm lightly and the moment he did it was like she woke up. The look would disappear and her smile for him was like the sun.

 

Sometimes John's shoulders would slump forward in exhaustion and he would sigh tiredly, face reflecting his true age, something that very rarely happened. River would see it and simply say, “Sweetie.”, in an embarrassingly breathy voice and his head would shoot up, body at attention, eyes wide with surprise. She would grin mischievously and stalk toward him predatorily and the look would be gone, replaced by love and hunger. That was usually around when Rory would say something about it being a business not a motel room and John would flush but River would simply kiss his cheek and drag John into the kitchen.

 

They were both extremely reckless. John constantly jumped into things with alarming speed and clumsiness but even if he made it up on the spot he always had a plan. River just did what felt right to her and hoped for the best.

 

They also balanced each other out. Where John was bouncy and just sort of _everywhere_ , River was steady and calm. While River flirted shamelessly, John was always quick to blush.

 

There were so many things the two of them just _got_ about one another. River had a large unpredictable streak and while at times it could be quite alarming, John always just went with it. John might've acted completely oblivious most of the time, but he understood a lot more than people gave him credit for and River was always the first to remind them of that.

 

Ianto wanted a love like theirs with Jack. He loved him so much, but he knew that to Jack he was just a shag. Jack had never said or done anything to make him think differently, just continued on as they had before. There was also the fact that Jack hit on anything that moved. Ianto wasn't sure if it was because he was virtually single or just who he was but he'd never encountered anyone when with Jack who hadn't immediately fallen victim to Jack's sexual prowess.

 

It didn't really bother Ianto much since despite their non-attachments it was his bed that Jack fell into at night and even if Jack didn't reciprocate his love, it was enough just to be close to him.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

 _”Carry on my wayward son.”_ , Jebi stomped his foot and sang enthusiastically as he made his way down the hall to his room, _“There'll be peace when you are done.”_ , another stomp, _“Lay your weary head to rest.”_ , he stomped both feet together, _“Don't you cry no more.”_

 

He shut his eyes and danced to the music in his head, moving into his room and shutting the door. He turned on his xbox and television, still bopping his head to the beat and turned to sit on his bed.

 

And stopped.

 

Jebi's eyes widened as they took in the creature that stood before him.

 

Deep set black eyes stared back.

 

He opened him mouth to call out just as a hand reached out from behind him and clamped a cloth over his airways.

 

Jebi jerked and struggled to get away, even as his vision began to swim and blacken around the edges.

 

The last thing he saw was the carpet swirling towards him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm giving you a plot, see? Lol, sorry for the cliffhangerness. (not actually sorry) I really hope this chapter was okay. It felt a bit rushed to me but maybe that's just cause I wrote it in one afternoon instead of spanning the writing process over a few days? Hope you enjoyed :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like such a horrible person for making you wait so long for this chapter!!! I'm VERY sorry! I just don't write as much when I'm on a break from school. Anyways I hope you enjoy this long overdue chapter :)

“Sweetie, have you seen Jebi?”, River asked, poking her head into the kitchen.

 

“No I haven't, Honey.”, John answered, humming with the radio.

 

She sighed, “Okay.”

 

She stepped out and spun on her heel, nearly knocking over Rory who was carrying one steaming cup of coffee in each hand.

 

“Oh! I'm sorry, Rory.”, she apologized, helping him right himself.

 

“It's fine.”, Rory sighed, “Though between you and John it's a miracle that I haven't gotten third degree burns working here.”

 

River apologized again then asked, “Have you seen Jebi?”

 

Rory shook his head, “No, sorry.”

 

“I can't find him anywhere.”, she proclaimed.

 

“Don't worry.”, Amy piped up from where she sat on the counter top, “I'm sure he's around.”

 

“Yeah.”, River said, not really believing the younger woman's words.

 

A sinking feeling settled in her gut and spurred her into action. She darted up the spiral staircase that led to their flat and hurtled into Jebi's room to find it devoid of her son.

 

His xbox and telly were on however and the sight of the start screen made her pause. Jebi _never_ left his xbox on the home screen. Which meant that something had stopped him from doing more than turning the system on.

 

River stared at the television screen unseeingly. Blood rushed in her ears as her vision tinted red.

 

 _My baby, my baby, my baby_.

 

She stood up almost robotically and with eery calm walked to she and John's bedroom, finding and removing the wall panel that hid her Glock from her husband and taking it out, grateful that she had taken advantage of John's recent distractedness with his pyramid to clean it and evaluate it's efficiency.

 

River slid the gun into the waistband of her jeans and left the room. She was just entering the living room when John came crashing in, a flurry of clumsy limbs and floppy hair.

 

“River! What is it? What's wrong?”, John burst, grasping her shoulders and catching her gaze.

 

It was cold. Empty and cold.

 

John's blood ran cold as the realization hit him, “Jebi.”

 

With that River was broken from her trance like state. A strangled sob escaped her throat and her knees finally gave out beneath her but John was there to catch her long before she hit the floor, clutching her tightly to his chest as the tears flowed freely. Her whole body shook as he held her close, more from the shock of her emotions than the sobs that racked her soul and he stroked her hair, shushing her gently and pressing kisses to her cheeks and hair, all the while crying right along with her.

 

Neither knew how long they sat there together, trying to find comfort in each other's arms, but eventually they were able to pull apart a bit. Their eyes were red and unable to shed anymore tears as they took shaky breaths of composure.

 

“What did you come up here for?”, River asked once she had control of herself again.

 

“I heard you scream.”, John stated as if it was obvious.

 

Confused, River shook her head, “I didn't scream.”

 

John's brow furrowed, “You must have, I heard you.”

 

“I didn't, Sweetie.”

 

Suddenly the television switched on causing both of their gazes to snap to it just as the picture came into focus.

 

The world seemed to slow to a stop for a moment.

 

On the screen their Jebi sat gagged and bound to a chair, eyes wide and terrified.

 

And standing behind him was Madame Kovarian.

 

“No.”, River breathed, heart in her throat.

 

John clutched her tightly, light muscles rippling in outrage.

 

Kovarian smiled, “Hello, Melody Pond.”

 

River clenched her jaw but said nothing.

 

It was just as well as Kovarian went on, “I'm sure your son would like to say hello too but as you can see.”, she gestured to Jebi, “He's a bit tied up at the moment.”

 

Something that had been wound up tight inside of River snapped and she growled, “You bitch! I swear to God I will hunt you down and kill you for this!”

 

Kovarian merely laughed, “Oh please do! We're at the company warehouse in the harbour. You know how to get there. We'll be waiting.”

 

The screen went black.

 

Both River and John stood up, John bracing an arm around River's waist lest her legs be unsteady. River shrugged off his arm in annoyance and went into the kitchen, rooting through drawers until she found the one with the false bottom hiding her Machete. John's eyes widened at the sight of the knife.

 

“River! What are you going to do with that?”

 

River rolled her eyes and snapped, “What do you _think_ I'm going to do with it? I'm going to run it through Kovarian's chest then cut out her heart – or slice up the area it would be occupying if she had one – and take it as a prize.”, with each word her voice came out louder and more like a growl.

 

John held out his arms in surrender and tried to calm her down, “Okay, okay. Taking her heart as a trophy, good plan. But River we have to slow down and think about this.”

 

River turned on him, “Think about what? They have _our son_ , John! They've already stolen one baby from me, I'm not going to sit around _thinking_ while they steal the other!”

 

At that John softened completely and said quietly, “I know you're scared, River. I'm scared too. But we have to be smart about this.”, River was watching him intently now, silently contemplating his words, “Kovarian told us exactly where they are which means she doesn't think we're a threat. She must have a trap waiting for us. She doesn't want Jebi, Love. What would he be to her? He's too old to train and too headstrong to be converted. She's just trying to get to you.”, he searched her eyes for understanding.

 

River's jaw set in determination and she nodded, “Then we need a plan. I will get my baby back, whatever it takes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's such a short chapter. I didn't realize just how short it was until I'd typed it out, but I thought you guys deserved SOMETHING. Thank you so much for sticking with this!!! I love you all SO much!!! Also thank you for all your lovely comments and kudos, they keep me motivated and inspired to keep writing this story!!! You are all absolutely BRILLIANT!! I hope to have the last couple of chapters up within the next week or so. So look out.


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